Chapter Twenty-four

Nicole walked down an empty hallway that led to the exit door. She had her black leather bag slung across her left shoulder to her right hip and she held onto it with her hands. Reminiscing her visit with Maggie, and the friendships forming among everyone, she zoned out the boys walking in front of her, about twenty feet ahead. The guys ran out the door to their busses, with AJ joining the band's ride for the time being. Jessica stood at the doorway waiting for Nicole. She saw the beam of happiness on Nic's face and frowned. "Jes, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you sweetie." She looked out the door and saw everyone settled on their bus. They both looked out into the pours of rain falling hard on the black tar-covered pavement. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, of course. What's up?"

"Well, I just want to let you know, this is Management not me." Nicole's face became twisted while her mind was circling in wonder of this conversation. "That phone call I had earlier? Well, they called to let me know that...they have made a few decisions in the office. And I'm sorry dear, but they're cutting you from the tour." Nicole's face held the same look while her mind flew as fast as a speeding car on an open highway. The statement ran over in her head, 'They're cutting you from the tour. They're cutting you from the tour.'

Nicole looked out the door into the darkness that was only colored by the falling water. She turned back to Jessica, speaking softy and with a flat tone, "So, I'm fired?"

She heard not a noise. Not even her friend's response, but saw the lips form the words, 'I'm so sorry honey.' She turned her head again to the outside and saw the buses waiting. "You're stuff is still here, take the hotel for the night and rest in. I'll try to talk some things around and get you back here. I'm so sorry." She could see the pain in her friend's eyes, but didn't know how to heal them. Placing a hand on Nicole's shoulder, she leaned in for a kiss on the dry cheek. She slung her arm behind the neck, pulling in for a hug that had no emotion in return from Nicole.

Nicole stared into air as Jessica walked out the doorway and ran to the guy's bus. The door opened immediately and she hopped up the stairs. The group's bus was the first to pull out and Nicole turned her head when she heard the noises of the engines running. She watched the second bus begin to pull away.

On first instinct, she ran out into the pouring rain after that last bus. She pounded on the sides of it and yelled, "Alex! Alex!!" She knew he was on the bus and wanted to see him.

The bus driver began to press his foot to the brake gently, asking if anyone heard anything. The band and AJ all looked up from their positions wondering what he had heard. Faint calls and slight bangs were heard, "Alex, Alex."

Nicole stopped as the bus continued to stroll after the first one. She was soaked from head to toe with her hair streaming across her face. She crouched down towards the ground, her elbows on her upward knees and her face on her forearms. She sat in what seemed like a silence despite the thunder, or the rain hitting the pavement and the buses' engines.

Suddenly the bus came to a stop about fifty feet in front of her. She still heard no sounds, until a voice yelled to her, "Nicole?!"

She shot her head up and saw AJ fifty feet before her as he came running at her. "Alex?" She stood up and he approached her.

"Dear, what's wrong? Why aren’t you on the bus?"

"I--I lost it." She was speaking in a loud mumble.

"Lost what? What are you doing out here?" He brought his hands up to her face as he worried about her and what was wrong.

He swiped pieces of soaked hair from her face as she spoke, "I lost the job. They're cutting me from the tour."

"Oh my God!" He pulled her in quickly for a deep hug. She threw her arms around his hips to his back and squeezed for his warmth and care. "Nickie, I'm gonna miss you," he spoke into her ear.

She didn't respond, staying in the same position until he pulled back. Placing his hands back on her cheeks he looked into her now green eyes. "Why does it feel like I'm losing my best friend?" She began to whimper, yet still no tears.

He smiled, "Honey, you are." Her eyes began to water, yet she seemed solid in her demeanor. She smiled as her bottom lip began to quiver and he swiped under her eyes with his thumbs, continuing to rub her cheeks. "I'm gonna miss you so much now, you know that?"

"Alex, I don't know what I'm gonna do without you guys."

"Come here babe," he pulled her head to his shoulder and stroked her head. He chuckled, "What's with the Alex?"

She picked her head up and smiled, "I dunno, it just comes out, I guess." She began to snicker through her grief.

A loud horn came from the buses and Tommy from the band yelled from the stairs of the bus's exit, "Hey, AJ. Let's get it moving on."

They both turned to the man and AJ waved him off, "I'll be there in a minute." Turning back to Nicole, he hugged her once more. "I'm gonna miss you."

She began to laugh; "You already said that. I'm gonna miss you, too." He rubbed her back firmly and she spoke up again, "I love you, J. You rub my back like my mom does when I'm upset." She pulled away and looked at him with care in her eyes, "Anyone who does that, I gotta love."

Smiling with what seemed like pride, he moved his arms to her shoulders and rubbed her arms up and down while he talked to her, "I love you, Nickie." She smiled, and despite her hatred for the name Nickie, she enjoyed his raspy voice saying it. He leaned in gave her a slight kiss on the lips and a wink. He began to jog towards the bus. Turning himself around to face her, he was jogging backwards, and yelled to her, "You'll be hearing from me again!" She smirked. "That's a threat, not a promise."

Once he reached the bus, he hopped up the stairs, then came back down and waved to her. "I'll watch out for Kevin for ya!"

She waved back, "I'll get by." Walking back to the open doorway, she almost felt relieved to move back home and be with her family and friends. It then occurred to her, she had just made new family and friends with the boys and Jessica.

She grabbed her cell phone and made a call for a cab to Berwyn. Sitting down on her duffel bag, she watched the rain come. While waiting, just inside the doorway where Jessica had to break the horrible news to a dear friend, Nicole reminisced old times with the guys. When Brian begged for staring contests and made faces forcing Nicole to lose. She called him on cheating every time. Playing linked games of Doom on her laptop with Nick as they sat facing each other at a hotel table, yelling at each other when they had killed the other player. Watching movies in the hotel rooms late at night with Howie when neither went out for entertainment. When AJ challenged her to dance in front of the guys during a break of a rehearsal and she broke out with dances from their videos. All the guys broke out laughing, but stood in awe and cheered while she could keep up with him. Kissing Kevin.

A smirk crept from her face as she remembered their last few nights together and he had held her in his arms, stroking her face and hair. The last night, after she told him she cared for him, he whispered the same into her ear when they laid side by side, "I can never not think about you during the day."

The words echoed through her ears that whole day, every time she saw his deep green eyes; every time she saw his messy dark hair; every time she saw the boy-like grin creep from his face. She then remembered the conversation when she broke Kevin's glass as he was drinking away.

She thought to herself, '"I quoted Vanessa Williams?" Laughing at herself, she hummed the words. "All of those nights you came to me. And some silly girl had set you free. You wondered how you'd make it through. I wondered what was wrong with you. How could give your love to someone else and share your dreams with me? Sometimes of everything you're looking for, it's the one thing you can't see."

She would never forget the guys. Never forget the memories they shared. Her cell phone was in her hand and she stared at it while it rang. Pushing the send button to answer the call, she continued to stare. She heard a faint voice call her name, "Nic? Nickie?" She smiled then brought the phone up to her ear. "J?"

"Hey, I forgot to tell you something."

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna miss you."

She laughed at him and continued talking until the cab arrived. They said their goodbye and she put the phone away in her big leather bag, then picked up her duffel bag. She walked over to the cab and threw her bags in it, looked back at the arena and sighed. The sign read, "Welcome to the All State Arena" in neon blue.

She snickered, then yelled, "It's the Rosemont Horizon. And don't you forget that!"